Leading into the debates, Donald Trump holds the advantage in three Fox News polls of swing states Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio.
Trump leads Hillary Clinton by five points among likely voters in North Carolina (47-42) and Ohio (45-40) in a head-to-head match. In Nevada, Trump leads by four points, 46-42.
Trump’s advantage narrows to three points in a four-way race in Nevada, 43-40, with Libertarian Gary Johnson following at 8 percent.
His five-point lead holds in North Carolina and Ohio when third party candidates are included, according to the Fox Poll. Trump leads Clinton, 45-40, with Johnson at 6 percent in North Carolina. In Ohio, Trump leads, 42-37, with Johnson at 6 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 2 percent.
Trump’s lead follows a recent CNN/ORC poll of Ohio voters earlier this month, netting a four-point lead, 50-46.
However, Clinton has recently led in polls of the other two states.
Early this month, she led by four points, 47-43, among likely North Carolina voters by Quinnipiac University. And Clinton held a slim single-point lead in a recent Nevada poll, conducted by NBC/WSJ/Marist, 45-44, among likely voters.
Fox News had not previously polled any of these three states on the general election.
The Fox News Poll was conducted via live telephone interview from Sept. 18-20. The Nevada poll included 704 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. The North Carolina poll included 734 likely voters with a margin of error of 3.5 percent. The Ohio poll included 737 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
TPM’s PollTracker Average in Nevada shows Trump leading Clinton, 45 to 40.3.
TPM’s PollTracker Average in North Carolina shows a tossup, with Trump leading Clinton, 45.2 to 43.9.
TPM’s PollTracker Average in Ohio shows Trump leading Clinton, 46.4 to 42.4.
